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She told them: "We don't have a lot, it's in the drawer in the bedroom."

Police found Cook in bed and 35 wraps of heroin in the bedside table.

Texts messages on a phone linked the couple to the Max county lines gang.

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Ms Gilbery said members of the gang had taken over the house at Christmas. When they left they insisted that Cook and Hoult sell the drugs on their behalf.

Hoult has no previous convictions. The offence put Cook in breach of a conditional discharge for exposure from 2016. He has eight previous crimes to his name.

Judge David Evans said the defendants were lucky the case had taken so long to come to court. In the meantime both had started to get help for their drugs use.

County lines drugs gangs

County Lines involves the supply of Class A drugs from the major cities - mainly London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham - to the smaller towns and cities of England and Wales.

The line refers to the single phone number used by the gang to advertise drugs and organise the sale. Each phone number is given a brand name like Mitch or Rico.

The dealers arrive in a town with ready-wrapped deals and immediately start to advertise to their client base. A G-pack or Grand pack refers to a £1,000 of drugs.

A typical message might read 'Best of both, 24/7', referring to heroin and cocaine. The gang uses the same marketing strategy as a large company might do. Three or four messages a day to hundreds of people at a time. Up to £5,000 can be taken in a day.

The gang will use local runners, addicts or in some cases vulnberable teenagers from the big cities to deliver drugs to users.

As the big city drug operation moves in, the smaller community suffers. Houses are often taken over or 'cuckooed' by gang members who are unknown to local police or the community. They will direct operations from a base for two or three days before moving on. Sometimes the cuckoo-ed are paid in drugs.

County lines is now the preferred method of choice for gangs looking for a lucrative share of Exeter's drugs market.

"Pressure had been put on one or both of you to allow your property to be used as a drug dealing base.

"That has regrettably become more common in this city in the last few years. Gangs take advantage of people, using them so their property can be used as a base is becoming all too great a feature of law enforcement in this city."

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But he said by the time of the offence the couple were supplying for their own advantage and to feed their habits.

Cook and Hoult, now living in Torquay, were jailed for 22 months but the sentence was suspended for two years. They were each given a drug rehabilitation order and told to do 10 days work with probation.